In Escobar: Paradise Lost, Benicio del Toro plays drug kingpin Pablo Escobar, delivering a performance that is already drawing strong praise after the film’s Telluride debut. But this isn’t just another “rise and fall” story focusing on a famous outlaw. The film, directed by Andrea Di Stefano, follows a college student (Josh Hutcherson), who falls for a local girl while in Colombia, only to discover that her uncle is an internationally-infamous drug lord. Check out the Escobar: Paradise Lost international trailer below. Read More »

There are several Pablo Escobar projects in the works at the moment, including a movie from Brad Furman and a TV show from Netflix. But the first one out of the gate is the one that’s not really a Pablo Escobar project per se.

Directed by Andrea Di Stefano, Paradise Lost centers on a young American surfer named Nick (Josh Hutcherson) who falls for a Colombian woman named Maria (Claudia Traisac). Their romantic idyll falls apart when she introduces him to her uncle, Pablo Escobar (Benecio del Toro). The first Paradise Lost teaser has just dropped, and you can watch it after the jump.

Oliver Stone, Antoine Fuqua, Joe Carnahan, and Brad Furman have all tried to bring Pablo Escobar to the big screen in recent years, to little avail. But now first-time director Andrea Di Stefano could succeed where his colleagues have not. Sort of.

Di Stefano’s debut feature Paradise Lost is not exactly an Escobar biopic, though it features the figure prominently and was reportedly inspired by true events. Described as a romantic thriller, it centers around a young couple (Josh Hutcherson and Claudia Traisac). The notorious drug kingpin, played by Benicio Del Toro, figures into the story as the girl’s uncle. Check out the first image and set video of him in costume after the jump.

Over the past few years, we’ve seen several filmmakers try their hand at a Pablo Escobar biopic, with not much success. Neither Oliver Stone’s Escobar nor Jor Carnahan’s Killing Pablo managed to get off the ground, and the Brad Furman effort announced in 2011 doesn’t seem to have gotten very far either. But it looks like the Colombian cocaine kingpin will be making it to the silver screen in the near future — and portrayed by the talented Benicio del Toro, no less.

The Oscar-winning actor is nearing a deal to play Escobar in Paradise Lost, a romantic thriller that will be the directorial debut of Italian actor-turned-filmmaker Andrea Di Stefano (Life of Pi, Nine). However, Di Stefano’s movie isn’t a biopic per se. Instead, it’s a romantic thriller about a young couple with a destructive connection to Escobar. Read on after the jump.